Terry Reksten Memorial Fund

Terry Reksten

The Friends of the BC Archives (FBCA) administers the Terry Reksten Memorial Fund, which honours the popular BC historian who passed away in 2001. Terry Reksten brought the history of British Columbia alive through her best-selling books, including Rattenbury (1978), More English Than the English (1988; reprinted 2001), and The Dunsmuir Saga (1991). Her last book, An Illustrated History of British Columbia (2001) was published just two weeks before her death at the age of 59.

Terry championed community archives and drew extensively on them in her many publications. On her passing, the Reksten family asked the FBCA to establish a memorial fund in Terry’s name, to honour her and the work she did for the preservation of the history of BC. Thanks to several significant donations, the Fund has grown substantially since it was established in 2002.

Grant Application

The Terry Reksten Memorial Fund offers two (2) grants of $1000 each to a community archives, historical association, or museum. The grants are intended to assist in acquiring, preserving, indexing and/or disseminating archival material relating to BC and its regions.

Eligible applicants must be open to the public in regular posted hours and have three or fewer paid employees. No organization is eligible to receive a grant from the Fund in two consecutive years.

Applications are adjudicated by representatives of the FBCA, the Reksten family, and the Archives Association of BC (AABC). Applications for the 2017 grants will be received until 30 June. We prefer one-page proposals outlining what the grant will be used for.

Please email applications to: FriendsOfBCArchives@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

The winner will be announced in September. The successful applicant will be required to notify us when their project is completed and to provide a short report that will be published in the FBCA newsletter and website.

Past Terry Reksten Memorial Fund Recipients

2016: Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society ($1,000) for a project to digitize the oral histories in our archives and use them to produce, in partnership with Cortes Community Radio CKTZ, a series of Cortes History Moment radio spots. Bamfield Historical Society ($1,000) for the acquisition of archival containers for the purpose of proper storage of documents and physical items held by the Bamfield Community Museum and Archives.

2011: R.J. Haney Heritage Village & Museum (Salmon Arm) supplies to house a 33 year collection of the Salmon Arm Observer images.

2010: The Chase and District Museum and Archives Society received funds to transfer taped oral histories to a more stable medium.

2009: Japanese Canadian National Museum and Archives for a project to purchase supplies to rehouse an extensive collection of photographs, textual records and artifacts documenting the voyage of the Suian Maru, a vessel which brought 83 Japanese migrants to B.C. in 1906.

2008: The Sidney Museum and Archives, to purchase archival supplies for the rehousing of photographs and negatives from the Dominion of Canada Experimental Farm fond (1913-1976).

2007: The Hope in Shadows Photographic Archive of Vancouver, to purchase supplies and enclosures to ensure adequate preservation of the photographs created for the Hope in Shadows Exhibition and Calendar.

2006: Quesnel and District Museum and Archives. They used their grant of $700 to purchase a digital recorder in order to collect aural histories within the community.

2005: Comox Archives and Museum Society. The award aided the transfer of oral histories that were deteriorating on tape, to a more stable format.

2004: Bowen Island Historians. The grant was used to re-house maps and plans in their Archives.

2003: Bulkley Valley Museum, Smithers. They received $500 to copy and encapsulate the more fragile and most often utilized maps in the museum collection, in order to help them preserve and share the history of the Bulkley Valley.

2002: Aldergrove Heritage Society. Their project was to “sort, identify and scan original photographs from the Aldergrove Star fonds to provide public accessibility.”